Okay, so I admit I have been behind in my billing. Since I lost my job at WorldCom through no fault of my own (owing to corporate CEO and other executive officers robbed that company blind), I have been slogging through a rough patch. So yes, my money issues have been daunting in recent months.
However, the job I now have pays on Fridays. In fact, I would dare say darn near everyone gets paid on Fridays. So, they were threatening interruption of my service on Thursday night by midnight. I called to see if I could pay my bill the following day, when I would be getting my paycheck. You would not believe the rudeness, unreasonableness and downright hostility I encountered when I called to attempt making an arrangement.
I spoke with an agent, then a supervisor, but was unable to get any sort of reasonable cooperation from Dish Network. Finally, I asked to be transferred to an executive resultion team member. He was equally unreasonable and unwilling to help. All I needed out of life was a grace period of 24 hours. You'd think I was asking for the moon and stars!
The upshot is, after being a loyal Dish Network customer for near on 10 years, perhaps more, they simply do not care and are not interested in doing something to keep a customer. While I agreed to a payment arrangement that will ultimately make life very difficult in coming days, it is my intention to bring my balance to zero, then dump them like a hot rock.
The old phone company mentality is hard at work at Dish Network. "We don't care, we don't have to... We're Dish Network" would be a paraphrase of that old line that was a staple with the phone company until they got humility following the breakup of the Bell monopoly.
Perhaps it is time for something similar to happen to Dish Network. On second thought, it is unlikely that anything would give them humility. After all, they are raking it in every month, and they have no earthly reason to care.
The loss of a single customer who has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on Dish Network simply is insignificant. That doesn't mean, however, that I need to remain a victim of predatory service practices.
I will catch up my bill, then shut them out of my life.
Melvin
Aurora, Colorado
U.S.A.